Danica Patrick had hung onto a spot in our weekly Power Rankings all season for two reasons.

One, despite a series of dismal finishes, she showed progress and flashes of potential at times. Just when it looked like she had hit rock bottom, she bounced back with finishes of 12th at Martinsville and 13th at Michigan, showing signs that she was getting a handle on her Sprint Cup cars.

And two, she’s just a lot more interesting to write about than some of the other drivers floundering around 25th in the rankings.

But Patrick fell on her face at Sonoma, where she spun out twice on the winding road course.

Given her background in IndyCar racing and her performance on road courses in the Nationwide Series, she was expected to run well and possibly even be a contender at Sonoma and Watkins Glen.

But she had trouble turning left and right and looked completely lost at Sonoma.

When asked if she felt more comfortable and confident on road courses entering the race, she answered succinctly: “Yep. That’s it. I feel more comfortable.”

But she clearly was disappointed after struggling in practice, qualifying 31st, wrecking twice in the race and finishing 29th.

She has struggled on intermediate tracks most of the season. But to struggle so badly on a track where she was expected to do well was a blow to her confidence and standing.

Where does she go from here? She faces another tough 1.5-mile oval this week before returning to Daytona, where she finished eighth to start the season.

See who replaces her at No. 25 and the rest of the risers and fallers in our weekly Power Ranking

Use arrow keys to navigate

1

of 25

Jimmie Johnson (Last week: 1)

Though he has one win at Sonoma, Johnson is not known as a road-course ace. But he was in contention most of the day before finally finishing ninth. That’s a good day for the points leader.

2

of 25

Kevin Harvick (2)

Harvick kept pace with Johnson, finishing 10th at Sonoma and hanging on to fourth in the standings.

3

of 25

Clint Bowyer (5)

Bowyer has become known as a road-course ace and had the fastest car most of the weekend. Though disappointed he didn’t win, he scored a solid fifth-place finish.

4

of 25

Carl Edwards (7)

Edwards surprised himself when he qualified third at Sonoma. He was even more surprised when he finished third. An impressive performance for another driver not known for his road-racing skills.

5

of 25

Greg Biffle (8)

After winning at Michigan, Biffle maintained his momentum with a top-10 at Sonoma.

6

of 25

Matt Kenseth (4)

Kenseth tweeted a photo of a snail outside his room Sunday morning. He wasn’t that slow, but he got a snail-like finish, crossing the stripe in 19th.

7

of 25

Martin Truex Jr. (11)

The significance of Truex’s win can’t be overstated. Not only did it snap his long winless streak and give him legitimacy among the elite drivers, he climbed back into the top 10 in points and put himself in great position to make the Chase — even if he needs a wild card.

Now he faces an even bigger question: Can he do it again?

8

of 25

Kyle Busch (3)

Rowdy could have gotten a bit rowdy after getting wrecked by Juan Pablo Montoya and Edwards at Sonoma. But Busch kept his composure and took to Twitter to call out the culprits and rile up the Rowdy haters. At least he keeps things interesting.

9

of 25

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (9)

Junior was almost giddy over surviving Sonoma and finishing 12th. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.

10

of 25

Tony Stewart (6)

Speaking of bad, Bad Tony resurfaced at Sonoma, where he punted Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton. After a four-week hot streak, Stewart took a step back at Sonoma.

11

of 25

Kurt Busch (13)

Busch shot himself in the foot again with two pit-road speeding penalties at Sonoma, but he made a remarkable comeback to finish fourth. Even more impressive was the way he handled himself after the race.

12

of 25

Jeff Gordon (16)

Gordon showed at Sonoma that he still is one of NASCAR’s best road racers, but he continues to be one of the year’s most baffling drivers with his up-and-down performance.

13

of 25

Kasey Kahne (14)

No one needed a good race more than the slumping Kahne. He got it with a sixth-place finish, but he needs a few more to climb back into the top 10 in points.

14

of 25

Brad Keselowski (10)

Keselowski will run all three races at Kentucky Speedway this weekend. He needs the practice running up front, because it’s been awhile.

15

of 25

Joey Logano (12)

His four-race top-10 streak ended, but he still finished 11th. He falls in the rankings only because so many drivers ahead him of flopped at Sonoma.

16

of 25

Ryan Newman (15)

Newman was 15th in our rankings last week and finished 15th at Sonoma, which means we were spot-on. For that, we drop him a spot.

17

of 25

Paul Menard (18)

Another typical 14th-place finish, but on a road course, that’s actually pretty good.

18

of 25

Juan Pablo Montoya (19)

Montoya should be furious at his team for not telling him to save fuel and for running him out of gas on the final lap. His team doesn’t get many chances to run up front and possibly win, and it blew a big one.

19

of 25

Marcos Ambrose (25)

Ambrose and his Richard Petty Motorsports also blew a big opportunity. Fast all weekend, Ambrose struggled on long runs in the race and wound up a disappointing seventh.

He likely will get just one more chance to win this year (at Watkins Glen), and then must start worrying about his future again.

20

of 25

Denny Hamlin (20)

Hamlin was not happy with Stewart for wrecking him, but it’s not like he was running that well anyway. Hamlin has 10 more weeks to win two races and gain six spots and 86 points in the standings.

21

of 25

Jeff Burton (17)

Burton has Stewart to thank for ruining another good day.

22

of 25

Aric Almirola (23)

For a while, it looked like Almirola might have learned a thing or two from Ambrose, his teammate, about road racing. Alas, it was not meant to be.

23

of 25

Jamie McMurray (24)

He won the pole, ran up front for a while, and then realized his worst fears by wrecking. What could have been a huge day for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing turned into a huge disappointment.

24

of 25

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (21)

What was supposed to be a promising rookie season is starting to turn into a big disappointment with not a single top-10 finish. Roush officials must hope that Stenhouse has learned a lot during the first half of the season.

25

of 25

Casey Mears (NR)

Mears gets the dubious honor of replacing Danica at No. 25 after a respectable 16th-place finish at Sonoma. Though he has no top-10 finishes this year, Mears has six top-20s and has been the best (24th in the standings) of the full-time drivers stuck with struggling teams.